Like a Winding Sheet
Like a Winding Sheet: A Twisted Reaction of Violence Ann Petry's short story "Like a Winding Sheet" tells the tale of an African-American man who is filled with anger and frustration over his perceived status in life. The story is set during the middle 1940s, a time before African-Americans attained civil rights in America. The protagonist, Johnson, is always aware of an ache in his legs, and the tension he feels in his hands. His anger mounts as he is confronted by his white, female, "forelady", (111) and again when he believes he has been treated unjustly at a New York restaurant. Up until this point he is able to control the anger that has been steadily mounting throughout the story. Finally, upon his arrival at home, his wife's actions and words trigger the violent outpouring of physical abuse he has struggled so hard to control. Petry's use of setting, symbolization, and plot, all contribute to the overall theme of the story: that often times people become angry and frustrated over incidents that are completely out of their control, only to take out their anger in the form of violence on those individuals who are closest to them. The first major conflict Johnson experiences is when he arrives for work late. His
Scott, uses the term "niggers"(111) when she confronts him about his tardiness. [his hands] were clinched tight, hard, ready to smash some of those purple veins on her face"(111). If he did, he could be arrested and put in jail. As he stands in line, waiting to be served, his anger begins to subside. Without warning he "hits her so hard that the dark red lipstick had blurred and spread over her full lips, reaching up toward the tip of her nose, down toward her chin, out toward her cheeks"(116) just as he hand imagined hitting the waitress earlier. His fingers begin to tingle immediately. Johnson was powerless to hit his supervisor when she angered him and he knew it. He wanted to "hit her so hard that the scarlet lipstick on her mouth would smear and spread over her nose, her chin, out toward her cheeks, so hard that she would never toss her head again and refuse a man a cup of coffee because he was black" (114). The atmosphere is soothing and the sights and sounds cause him to relax. Even though she has probably used the same terminology previously, in an affectionate manner, it is the trigger that sets his hands into motion. His anger is further fueled when his wife says: "you're nothing but an old hungry nigger trying to act tough" (115). It is important that we recognize signs of stress and take action to rid ourselves of it lest we hurt those we love most. Although he was able to continue to work after the incident, his hands remained "clenched and knotted on the handles of the cart as though ready to aim a blow" (112).
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